Judaism
Psalms 41
Text
For the Leader. A Psalm of David.
Happy is he that considereth the poor; the LORD will deliver him in the day of evil.
The LORD preserve him, and keep him alive, let him be called happy in the land; and deliver not Thou him unto the greed of his enemies.
The LORD support him upon the bed of illness; mayest Thou turn all his lying down in his sickness.
As for me, I said: 'O LORD, be gracious unto me; heal my soul; for I have sinned against Thee.'
Mine enemies speak evil of me: 'When shall he die, and his name perish?'
And if one come to see me, he speaketh falsehood; His heart gathereth iniquity to itself; when he goeth abroad, he speaketh of it.
All that hate me whisper together against me, against me do they devise my hurt:
'An evil thing cleaveth fast unto him; and now that he lieth, he shall rise up no more.'
Yea, mine own familiar friend, in whom I trusted, who did eat of my bread, Hath lifted up his heel against me.
But Thou, O LORD, be gracious unto me, and raise me up, that I may requite them.
By this I know that Thou delightest in me, that mine enemy doth not triumph over me.
And as for me, Thou upholdest me because of mine integrity, and settest me before Thy face for ever.
Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting and to everlasting. Amen, and Amen.
Text: The Holy Scriptures, Jewish Publication Society (1917), public domain, via Sefaria.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
Divine Compassion & Mercy
Quran 1:1
“In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.”
Luke 6:36
“Be ye therefore merciful, as your Father also is merciful.”
Snp 1.8 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Even as a mother would protect with her life her child, her only child, so too for all creatures unfold a boundless heart.”
Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 1
“ik oankaar sat naam: one Creator, whose Name is Truth, beyond fear and enmity.”
Impermanence & Letting Go
Dhammapada 20:277 (trans. F. Max Müller)
“‘All created things perish,’ he who knows and sees this becomes passive in pain; this is the way to purity.”
Tao Te Ching 76 (trans. James Legge)
“Man at his birth is supple and weak; at his death, firm and strong. (So it is with) all things. Trees and plants, in their early growth, are soft and brittle; at their death, dry and withered.”
Ecclesiastes 3:1
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 2 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“Nay, but as when one layeth His worn-out robes away, And taking new ones, sayeth, "These will I wear to-day!" So putteth by the spirit Lightly its garb of flesh, And passeth to inherit A residence afresh.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.”
Dhammapada 2 (trans. Bhikkhu Sujato)
“Intention is the leader of things; intention is first, they’re made by intention. If with pure intent you speak or act, happiness follows you like a shadow that never leaves.”
Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 16 (trans. Edwin Arnold)
“The Doors of Hell Are threefold, whereby men to ruin pass, The door of Lust, the door of Wrath, the door Of Avarice. Let a man shun those three!”